Such piston-cylinder assemblies are used in order to release, dependent on one or more sliding positions of the piston, further sequences of operation. These can refer to both the piston-cylinder assembly itself, for example to the reversing of the direction of movement of the piston, or to further structural parts or machines. Moreover, this assembly facilitates an interrogation or indication without any problems from individual piston positions. It is thereby of importance for effecting a smooth sequence of operation that the switch, usually arranged n the outer periphery, is operated with precision. To accomplish this precision, it is decisive that the magnetic field of the permanent magnet, during the individual movements of the piston, operates the switch reproducably always in the same piston position. Up to now attempts have been made to solve this problem by constructing the permanent magnet annularly and by arranging same coaxially with respect to the piston which is circular in cross section. The switching operations could thus be released safely even during nonpreventable rotations of the piston about its longitudinal axis. However, the complicated and expensive manufacture of the piston-magnet unit is thereby disadvantageous, because on the one hand the annular magnet is expensive to manufacture and on the other hand regular twopart pistons or diverse fastening parts are needed in order to be able to secure the magnetic ring as best as possible on the piston.
The basic purpose of the invention is therefore to provide a piston-cylinder assembly according to the abovementioned type, which can be manufactured with a high degree of switching precision, with few parts, simply and inexpensively.